Rise and Shine
by campfiresongs
Summary: Elena Gilbert is down on her luck, recently fired from her job at Mystic Fall's most popular morning breakfast shows she jumps at the chance to work on a little known show Rise and Shine. To boost ratings she enlists the help of her idol Damon Salvatore.
1. Chapter 1

_Damon wrapped his knuckles lightly on the open glass door of Alaric's office. The man in question was sitting at his desk, his head hung over a pile of documents, propped up by his fists._

_"Hey man," Damon called in greeting. Alaric swung his head up as Damon entered. The dark haired man grimaced as he saw the look on Alaric's face. "Geez, you look tired. Rough day?" he asked light-heartedly._

_Alaric slowly went red; his teeth ground together as he stared down the young anchor._

_"Rough day?" he echoed slowly, beginning to look reminiscent of a cartoon character before steam blew out of its ears._

_"You wanna go get a beer?" asked Damon, leaning against a mahogany book case that was located in the corner of his friend's office._

_"No, Damon," snapped Alaric, pushing himself to his feet and shuffling the papers in front of him into a neat file. "I do not want to go and get a beer. I want to go home."_

_He dragged his briefcase from under his desk and shoved the papers inside it before viciously snapping the lid shut._

_"Oh..." said Damon, perplexed by his obvious bad mood, "maybe you should go home, you know, get some sleep and all that..."_

_"You are unbelievable." Alaric spat out venomously._

_"Excuse me?" asked Damon, still none the wiser about the cause of this sudden hostility._

_"You want to know why I'm so tired Damon!" exclaimed Alaric. "Because I had to spend all afternoon with a crying twenty-six year old girl. I don't like dealing with crying twenty-six year old girls, Damon." he shouted, the sound waves bouncing off his glass windows and echoing around the room._

_"I can understand how that could be a bummer Ric," began Damon uncertainly, "but what does that have to do with me?"_

_"Because youhad to go and tell the entire lot that you slept with the girl, you humiliated her in front of her colleagues!"_

_"Who, Elena?" Damon frowned; she had seemed so unfazed by it all, the only reason that he had announced it to everyone was to get a rise out of her. "She was crying?" he pressed._

_"Yeah, Damon, she was crying...sobbing even. Believe it or not women do not appreciate their dirty laundry being hung out to dry in front of everyone they work with. Especially women like Elena, she is not one of your cheap squeezes from the bar Damon, she is your boss."_

_"Oh, come on, Ric, lighten up," he urged, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling, "it was just a bit of fun. You used to play along too once, remember?"_

_"Yes, I do remember," he said shortly, "and I'm not proud of the part I played in bullying young women into quitting their jobs."_

_Damon snorted and shook his head._

_"Don't you think you're being a little dramatic?"_

_"No, Damon, I don't." he spat. "We live in hard times and I find nothing amusing about putting a girl out on the streets. Do you think they all just walked into other jobs after here? If she leaves," he continued, the conversation returning to Elena, "she won't get another job. Her reputation is ruined thanks to you." he finished quietly, hoping that a quieter approach might sink in better._

_"So she can move to a different city. There are other places people can live, Ric." he scoffed sardonically._

_"Why should she have to move across the country because of you!" Alaric shouted, the calm approach forgotten, "I cannot believe this is one big joke to you- I had to beg her not to file a harassment law suit against you. If something like this happens again, I'll fill it out for her myself." He yanked his briefcase off the desk and stormed past Damon, pausing as he drew level with him. "We're done here."_

_He waited for Damon to exit the office in front of him but called him back as he reached the door._

_"Oh, and, Damon?" he asked. The young man turned to him and cocked an eyebrow. "I'll expect an apology to the entire staff for your despicable behaviour to appear in my email inbox by Monday, understood?"_

_Damon nodded curtly before swivelling on his heel and marching out the offices._

* * *

2 months earlier

2.45 am. The red flashing light on her alarm flashed its accusatory wake-up call repetitively. She reached over and slammed the palm of her hand onto the top of it, shifting it across her bedside table slightly but never far enough that it edged its way past the thin layer of dust that had accumulated around it.

She threw out an exploratory hand, scrambling across the table's clutter before landing on the cool, chinking metal of her worn out, casio watch. Old and reliable. Plain and dependable. Just like her...except for maybe the old part.

She heard the scraping of a key in her front door and a creaking of the floorboards as it was opened. The door was closed slowly in an attempt to be quiet, but slammed nonetheless on its ancient, rusted hinges. A girl giggled and shushed dramatically before the noise of a tap running and glasses clinking could be heard from the small kitchen space adjacent to the wall of Elena's bedroom.

She sighed; Caroline was home. Lately they were like passing ships in the night, except that it was more usually dawn. One in, one out. She crawled out of bed, hugging her arms around her chest and headed out of her bedroom into the tiny open plan living area.  
The blonde spun on her heel at the sound of movement behind her, she smiled shyly at her roommate over the glass of water clutched between her fingers.

"Sorry," she whispered, "did I wake you?"  
Elena was relieved to find her alone, her shushing simply due to her drunken state.

"No, I was just getting up." explained Elena, flicking the switch on the kettle and listening to it start to rumble into life. "Good night?" she asked, yawning widely.

"It was great thanks," gushed Caroline, her face lighting up. "We went for a few drinks with the band afterwards. You should have come."

"Maybe next time." lied Elena. Caroline drained the last out of her glass and placed it on the side.

"Big day today, huh?" she asked, watching while Elena carefully poured her first coffee of the day into her usual mug, one sweetener and a drop of milk finishing it off before she lifted it to her lips.

She nodded over the rim and exhaled heavily. "I hope so."  
"Well, good luck." Caroline slipped from the kitchen, pausing at the door of her room that stood on the opposite side of the living space to Elena's. "We should celebrate tonight. I'm off to bed...I'll see you tonight?" she asked hopefully.

"Yeah..." Elena answered vaguely.

She waited for Caroline's door to shut before heading back into her own room and beginning the process of getting ready for the day ahead. She scraped her tangled mass of brown curls into a ponytail and buttoned one of a wide selection of plain white, long sleeved blouses over her chest. Finally, she hauled her saggy looking pencil skirt over her legs, noting with disdain the way it clung to her hips in a way it never used to. She glanced down at the half empty cup of coffee on her bedside table, sitting perfectly on top of year's worth of coffee rings. Maybe it was time to cut down on the sweeteners.

Slipping her feet into a pair of battered black loafers and swinging her satchel onto her shoulder, she caught a look at herself in the mirror. Her shoulders slumped as she sighed at her reflection.

"Oh well," she whispered to herself, "this is as good as it's going to get." She forced a smile onto her face she left her room, her clock showing 3.30am as the time.

* * *

Most days she revelled in the quietness of the huge, bustling city as she worked her way across town. She took a small delight in the things she saw of it, that not many other people did. She knew the faces of the street cleaners and could spot a girl walking home from a late night hook up from a mile off. The cab drivers knew her by first name, and she could tell you how old each of their children were and what they all wanted to be when they grew up.

Today, however, was different. She had no time to listen for the slow hum of the street sweeper as it made its way along the road, and she didn't listen properly when Donny was telling her about his little girl's latest ballet recital. Her mind was solely fixed on her destination and what lay in store for her once she reached it.

She paid her fare in silence, as if on autopilot and made her way into the building they had stopped in front of. The impressive edifice stood at the top of a steep set of stone stairs. Each morning she would run up them in her sensible shoes and take a large gulping breath of air on her arrival at the top. There was no time for such things this morning, though, as she hurried up them and propelled herself through the revolving glass doors.

"Morning, Elena," the dark skinned security guard greeted her."Good luck for today, honey."

"Thanks, Bert!" she cried as she rushed past him breathlessly and crammed herself into a departing lift.

Scurrying out onto to the top floor, she strode past her usual desk, dumping her bag onto it unceremoniously without stopping. She headed along the smooth length of corridor, the fluorescent strip lights blinking at the end of the hall outside a large, glass paned office.

"Good luck in there, Elena." The shy girl behind the desk raised a hand and gave her a smile. Elena attempted to smile back and smoothed imaginary wrinkles out of her skirt before knocking briskly on the door.

"Come in!" came a deep voice from within, and slowly she turned the handle and let herself in.

"Elena!" greeted Elijah warmly, incredibly chipper for such an early hour. "Please, please, sit down."

He ushered her into a chair in front of his desk and scooted himself back around to the other side and sat down, placing his hands out in front of him, entwining his fingers together.

"I'm sure you're awfully curious as to why I requested this meeting with you this morning..." he began carefully and she nodded eagerly, clearing her already dry throat. "As you know, recently we had to say goodbye to our executive producer and have been fastidiously trying to fill the unimaginably large gap left behind." She added a single, slow nod to show she was still listening. "I understand that his absence has added a huge amount to your workload and I am reliably informed that you have been acting as a somewhat honorary executive producer, for which I can only thank you."

"Its...I mean- you're welcome..." she garbled nervously.

"With all that taken into consideration I thought that you would want to be informed when we made a decision about his successor."

"Yes..." She edged forward in her seat, her fingers clasped together turning her knuckles white.

"I'm delighted to say that we have finally found someone to fill the post. Have you heard of Katherine Pierce?" he asked innocently.

Elena could hear her heart pounding in her ears and feel the blood rushing to her cheeks. She sat, dumbfounded as the realisation of what had been said crashed over her. No promotion. That was what he was effectively saying. She had spent the last four months doing the job that she had been led to believe was hers for the taking and now it was being handed to someone else.

"Elena?" Her eyes refocused onto his face as he looked upon her with concern. He cleared his throat and continued, "As I was saying, she comes highly recommended and has single handedly turned around ratings and viewer demographics on almost every show she's ever produced."

"I see." replied Elena quietly, no longer really listening.

"That being said, these high flying execs do come at a cost and her wage package is considerably higher than her predecessor's and therefore we've had to make some cut backs..." There goes the free catering, she thought bitterly. "...and after you performed so well in the position we realised that it _is_ actually possible for someone to fill both the assistant and executive producer roles by themselves." She frowned, wait, this wasn't right. He wasn't talking about cutting catering costs, or having the ridiculous crazy animal story segment cut...he was talking about...  
"And so it's with great regret Elena that I have to say that your position is no longer one that fits into Good Morning Mystic Falls." He paused to take a dramatic breath and recompose his face to one of sadness. "You have been a real shining star whilst you have worked here and we really wish you the best in all of your endeavours."

Her mouth dropped open and she let out a guttural, choking noise.

"You're...you're firing me?" She couldn't quite believe this was happening. Maybe she would wake up in a second and it would all be a terrible nightmare. Because she had not seen this meeting ending up like this, that was her promotion, her big break...and now she didn't even have a job.

"We're letting you go." he explained calmly, as if this twist of words made this gross injustice better somehow. "You've done nothing wrong, Elena. You're not being fired we have just had a reshuffle of the company and unfortunately we no longer require your services."

"That sounds an awful lot like you're firing me." she shot back bitterly. "I can't believe this." she cried, letting her head fall into her hands and folding herself over.

"I understand that you're upset, Elena..." Elijah stood up awkwardly and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You understand!" she mocked, raising her head and revealing her mascara stained cheeks. "I put everything into this job, Elijah. How could you do this to me!"

"It's not personal, Elena. It's just business." She snorted and shook her head, wiping at her eyes and trying to regain her composure.

"Well, thanks, I feel _so_much better now." She pushed herself to her feet and stood face to face with Elijah. "Goodbye, Elijah," she said coldly before leaving the office, trying her best to keep her dignity intact.

* * *

After she had knocked back her fifth consecutive shot of tequila, the aching despair inside of her had started to settle and was being replaced with a warm fuzzy feeling. Across from her Caroline was regarding her with a sympathetic look that seemed to have perpetually fixed itself to her face for the night.

"Oh, sweetie," she lamented, placing her hand on Elena's arm, "something better will come along, I just know it. I mean, you're young, pretty _and_smart. Who wouldn't want you to be their producer?"

"Elijah," she scoffed into her mojito. Caroline's face twisted into another sympathetic smile and Elena briefly wondered how many more endearing pep talks she had left in her arsenal.

The guy next to her, Brett...Brad...Brendon...something like that, had been eagerly plying her with drinks the whole night. He was the drummer in the band that Caroline had befriended, in the hope that they would take off and the record company she worked for would sign them, making her extremely rich. Right now he had his hand on her thigh, rubbing his thumb up and down in a way that was making her acutely nauseous. She drained the last of her drink, and before he could open his mouth to offer her another one she slid off the high stool she had been perched on in the middle of the achingly cool bar and grabbed Caroline's hand.

"Let's dance." she said shortly, dragging her friend away from the dark haired guitarist that she had been intensely chatting with.

Caroline wasn't entirely sure what had gotten into her usually shy and retiring friend, other than a whole lot of tequila, but she wasn't complaining as Elena led her out onto the busy dance floor and they began dancing carelessly. Soon enough the various members of the band had joined them and Elena was uncomfortably trying to fend off the advances of her dedicated drummer without offending him. She quickly excused herself and headed back over towards the bar.

She squeezed into the jammed bar area, placing her elbows onto the wooden surface and waiting patiently to be served. Someone shoved in next to her and she stumbled slightly, falling into the person standing next to her before regaining her balance.

"Sorry!" she chirped, placing her hand onto the person's arm. He turned around and her breath caught in her throat. She would know those blue eyes anywhere; she had recorded every single breaking news bulletin for the last four years just so she could watch those eyes and the way that mouth crept upwards into a smirk. She realised that she was staring and cleared her throat, her cheeks flushing instantly.

"No problem," he replied, failing to turn back to speak to the friend he had been standing with, but setting his eyes firmly upon her. "You look lost," he observed, his lips creeping upwards again and setting her heart racing.

"S-sorry?" she stammered, nervously brushing her hair out of her face.  
"You look lost," he repeated, "you don't strike me as the kind of person who comes to these sorts of places very often."

She wondered how he had read her so quickly before realising that it was probably glaringly obvious that she was not a person who normally frequented hip and cool bars like some kind of groupie.

"Well, I'm not really, I suppose." she answered, trying to force as much confidence into her voice as possible. For her entire TV career it had been her dream to come face to face with Damon Salvatore and now it was happening, although in slightly less dignified circumstances than she would have liked, it was still happening. She couldn't mess this up. "I normally work pretty crazy hours but..." she trailed off, why was she telling him this? He wasn't interested in her little sob story. Think of something witty to say! She urged herself.

"But what?" he pressed, raising two fingers to the bartender and pointing to the bar in front of them. Moments later two drinks appeared and he pushed one towards her.

She picked up the drink, not caring what was in it, and took a lengthy gulp of it; grateful for the warm, fuzzy feeling that returned to her. "But...I got fired today." she answered regretfully, immediately taking another sip of her drink and staring into its depths.

"That sucks," he said shortly, downing his drink in a single mouthful and placing it back on the bar.

"Yeah..." she answered, as if it was the first time she had realised it, "it does."

"So what will you do now?" he asked. "Besides getting drunk of course?"

She was struck by the fact that he actually seemed genuinely interested in her life and what she was saying. This was someone who was partly responsible for her career choice and also, she was ashamed to admit, the leading male in most of her late night fantasies. Other people had world famous actors, she had Mystic Fall's best news reporter.

"Erm..." What was she going to do now? She had spent the day clearing out her desk, sobbing into her duvet, crying on Caroline's shoulder and consuming copious amounts of alcohol whilst being groped by a drummer. She hadn't really taken much time to think about what her next career move would be? Did she even want to work in television anymore? Or had her latest experience put her off it altogether?

"Elena!" Caroline's blonde curls appeared through the crowd, followed closely by her guitarist friend whose wrist seemed to be held in Caroline's vice grip. "There you are!" She launched herself at her friend, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and giggling childishly. "I thought I'd lost you." She pried herself away from Elena and turned around to where Damon was watching them both with wide eyes. "Oh hey!" she greeted brightly, "you're that guy off the news." she said obviously, poking a finger in his direction.

He simply raised an eyebrow and Elena felt her cheeks brighten once more with embarrassment as Caroline continued drunkenly, "Did you know that Elena works on the news? Well...not just the news there's like other stuff as well like talking and cooking...but she got fired today! Who would fire someone like Elena, she's like...beautiful, don't you think she's beautiful!" she cried, waving her hands around animatedly and stroking a hand through Elena's hair.

Elena chuckled awkwardly and extracted Caroline's from her head and pulled it down to her side, squeezing it in hope that her friend would get the message and stop talking. She smiled apologetically and lowered her eyes.

"Yeah, I do." answered Damon. Colour rushed to her cheeks, she looked up at him from underneath her eyelashes and was nearly bowled over by the intensity in his eyes.

"Anyways, it was really great meeting you news guy but I have to steal Elena away right now because we are going to a club." said Caroline. She grinned widely at him.

Elena quickly downed her drink and deposited her glass on the bar, smiling shyly at him and muttering a thanks before she let her friend pull her away.

She followed Caroline out of the bar, trying not to feel disappointed. What had she hoped would happen anyway? That he would come home with her and play out all of her fantasies in one single night? No matter how drunk she was, she knew she wasn't that kind of girl. Therefore, the best case scenario would have been that she would have talked to him for a while, until she said something awkward or embarrassing and he left. In a way, Caroline had probably saved her from causing herself unnecessary embarrassment.

* * *

After the initial horror of waking up with a throbbing hangover, Elena settled herself in her small bedroom with a mug of tea next to her. She perched her laptop atop her bent knees and put the morning news on in the background. She opened her résumé and began fastidiously updating it and making herself sound as desirable for employment as possible. She sent off several copies to various television networks with a cover letter explaining her recent employment history and the lengths to which she had gone for her job.

The following morning after almost twenty fours of radio silence she decided to take it upon herself to begin contacting the networks.

"Hello! Yes, hi, my name is Elena Gilbert, I sent you my resume yesterday and I wondered if you had received it...you did...fantastic...no positions, right I understand. Thank you for your time." After the fifth phone call, all ending the exact same way, she slumped into the couch in the living room, automatically turning the news on and staring blankly at the screen.

It had always been her childhood dream to work on a television show, in particular a morning news show. Growing up it had been something that had united her family, no matter how busy her father was with his medical practice he always made time to sit with his daughter and watch the morning news over their first cups of coffee, hers decaf - although she was unaware of it.

Her mother would walk in and ruffle both their hair as she passed them on her way to make them pancakes for breakfast. The memories of those mornings are what put her through college, her first few jobs as a runner on poorly run, low budget talk shows, and the years of working her way up to an assistant producer.

The shrill ringing of her phone snapped her out of her reverie and she glanced down at the unknown number. Composing herself and putting on her best phone voice she pressed answer.

"Elena Gilbert speaking."

"Hello, Miss Gilbert, my name is Alaric Saltzman from-"

"Rise and Shine!" she answered for him enthusiastically before realising that she had cut across him. "Sorry." she said, clearing her throat formally and waiting for him to continue.

"Ahem, yes, from Rise and Shine. I received your resume and I was wondering if you would like to come in and have a chat with us tomorrow." he explained.

"Yes, absolutely yes!" she screeched, forgetting herself momentarily. "I mean- that would be lovely thank you."

He chuckled lightly down the phone. "Wonderful. I'll have my secretary e-mail you the details. I look forward to meeting you Miss Gilbert."

"Thank you, and you." she finished sensibly. She ended the call and punched her hands into the air, squealing in delight and wriggling around so much on the couch that Caroline came out of her room to see what was going on.

"Are you alright?" she asked, "I thought you were having a seizure or something." The blonde looked incredulously at her best friend who was now on the couch jumping up and down, creaking its ancient springs ominously.

"I got an interview at Rise and Shine!" she cried joyfully, narrowly avoiding the ceiling as she continued to bounce up and down.

"Well, why didn't you say so!" Caroline rushed over and was pulled up by Elena. The pair jumped up and down together holding hands and whooping loudly until their elderly neighbour below banged on the ceiling with her broom.

"Oops, noise police." giggled Caroline, flopping down next to Elena and catching her breath.

"I have to get a suit." Elena realised worriedly.

"Honey, I am all over it." Caroline pulled her hand and instructed her to get ready and the two left the apartment together arm-in-arm.

* * *

_So that's it, my new story. I'm not sure if I'll be continuing with Young, wild and free. I've kinda lost interest in it._

_Please let me know what you think of this :) _

_xxx_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N- Hi! Thanks so much for the reviews on this, I was glad to see people were interested in it :) _

_I'm in the process of starting the next chapter of How to Save a Life; I estimate it has 2-3 chapters left including a prologue. Its my summer (though you wouldn't know it cuz its freezing) so I have a bit more spare time on my hands so hopefully I'll be able to get down to some writing._

_Thanks to my beta and much love as always! xxx_

* * *

Elena smoothed down the fabric of her tight grey pencil skirt across her knees, as she regarded the man in front her who was perusing her resume closely. He had a handsome face and a haircut that suggested that he had a wife or girlfriend at home who liked her man to look well groomed. A thin layer of stubble was scattered across his chin and jaw, giving him a youthful look that had Elena struggling to place his age. Every now and again his brow would crinkle as he would frown at something he read. To his left was the letter of recommendation that would have been requested from her previous employer. She somewhat regretted her haughty exit from Elijah's office as soon as she saw his letterhead sitting on Mr Saltzman's desk.

However, he had said little about Elijah's words; in fact he had said little about anything. He had simply read her resume, which she had presumed he would have already have done, and made quiet noises of displeasure to go along with his frowning.

Finally, after sitting in nervous silence for fifteen minutes he placed the various pieces of paper to one side and linked the fingers of each hand together, placing them in front of them.

"Now then," he said, sighing as if this whole thing was a huge waste of his time, which it probably was. "Elijah Mikaelson seems to highly recommend you, he even goes as far to say that he wishes you'd never left, which is funny considering word on the grapevine is that he bumped you in favour of that witch, Katherine Pierce." he scoffed. Although what he said should have sounded upsetting to Elena, the way in which he said it was blunt but warm at the same time and she found herself relaxing and even rolling her eyes slightly.

"However," he said, immediately causing her to tense up again, "no matter how wronged you were by Elijah, it doesn't change the fact that you have little to no experience of being an executive producer. You don't have an MBA, you went to community college, and you're so young that if I hired you my entire staff would probably think I was sleeping with you."

Elena coughed loudly in shock and paled. "Mr Saltzman, with all due-"

"Please, call me Alaric." he interrupted her, raising a hand.

"A-Alaric, with all due respect, sir, regardless of what it says on my resume I have spent the last three months working as an executive producer. I-I work hard, I'm dedicated, motivated...I don't really have a social life so you wouldn't have to worry about that getting in the way and I swear..." He raised his hand again as she began to ramble and she shook a piece of her that fallen in front of her face out of her eyes, frantically combing it away.

"That's a charming speech, Miss Gilbert, but it doesn't change anything. I've had forty applicants for this job and you're the only one who didn't go to Columbia or Yale or any other Ivy League. You're also the youngest and the only one without official experience of being an executive producer. Your resume is impressive, Miss Gilbert, but you're just not there yet." She nodded solemnly, once again smoothing her skirt out and pushing herself to her feet.

"I understand." she said, raising her hand to shake his, "Thank you for the opportunity, Mr Saltzman. Have a nice day." She turned around to walk from his office, closing her eyes as tears began to prick behind them.

"Miss Gilbert!" he shouted, making her turn around. He ran an exasperated hand across his forehead and sighed heavily. "Why do you want to work here anyway?" he asked, his voice full of confusion.

"I...Mystic Falls is my home." she said, shrugging as she didn't have any other answer.

"Forgive me for prying, but I recognized your name when I saw it...I covered your story in my first year here. Why would you want to stay here? Surely there's nothing for you. A bright girl like you could get an assistant producer job on any number of shows in New York or anywhere for that matter." His eyes were filled with kindness and she once again blinked away tears.

"Like I said," she replied, "it's home." She smiled softly and turned again to leave.

"Elena!" His voice called her back once again. "When could you start?" he asked, running a shaky hand through his hair.

"What?" she asked incredulously, "But you said..."

"I know what I said, but you're also the only person to come in here today who I haven't wanted to punch in the face and that's worth a lot more to me than some ivy league education."

She grinned in response and accepted his offer to take the seat opposite him as he pulled a contract out of his top drawer.

* * *

The pay wasn't much better than her previous job and she knew that the hours would be longer and the stress levels higher, but somehow Elena felt that she had made it. She was an actual executive producer to a very real breakfast show.

She let herself back into her flat to find Caroline sprawled out on the couch under the duvets, a mug of tea clutched in her hands and the latest reality TV travesty on the screen.

The blonde immediately spun around, sloshing tea all over herself and yelping, although this did nothing to wipe the grin off her face as she regarded her friend.

"How did it go?" she squealed.

"I...uh...I got the job!" answered Elena, still struggling to process the events of the morning. "I got the job!" she cried more enthusiastically, dropping her handbag to the floor and throwing her hands into the air as Caroline rushed over to her and enveloped her into a crushing hug.

"I am so proud of you!" shouted Caroline, grabbing Elena's hands and twirling the pair around in the middle of their apartment, "It was the suit," she said determinedly, coming to a halt, "it was definitely the suit."

Elena laughed and shook her head. "I think the suit may have helped...a little."

They both dissolved into giggles and Caroline tugged her over towards the sofa, muting the television and demanding to know every little detail of what had been said.

* * *

_I'm in the corner, watching you kiss you her- oh_

I'm right over here why can't you see me?

Elena swayed her hips to the music and tossed her long hair back and forth, grinning across to Caroline who was mirroring her moves. The girls were crammed in on all sides by other sweaty dancers but remained largely oblivious to the male attention they were receiving, both too drunk to care or notice.

_I'm giving it my all but I'm not the girl you're taking home_

I keep dancing on my own

She sang along to the words loudly, her, largely out of tune, voice drowned out by the loud thudding of the music. They were back in the bar they had visited the other night, sans Caroline's band of merry men.

_"'Lena, we absolutely have to go celebrate!" squealed her roommate, still in her pyjamas looking the least ready for a night out as she could possibly be._

_"I don't know, Caroline, I'm pretty tired I was just thinking of turning in."_  
_"Oh, no, no, no," protested Caroline. "I lost my wing-woman for three whole months while you worked your ass off for that moron, Elijah, we are celebrating and that is final. Now go get ready." She shoved Elena off the couch and she landed roughly on the floor with a yelp._

_"Ouch! Care!" she exclaimed, rubbing her behind and rolling her eyes at her friend's attempt at looking apologetic._

_"Ok," she groaned, pushing herself to her feet, trying not to tear the fabric of her skin tight pencil skirt. "I will come out, but on one condition." She held up her index finger and regarded Caroline carefully._

_"Anything for you, darling." cooed her friend dramatically._

_"We are leaving Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club band at home. I don't wanna get groped for an entire evening, thank you very much!"_

_"Not by anyone you don't want to anyway...maybe by sexy news guy." Caroline said under her breath, smiling wickedly and wriggling her eyebrows. "Ok." She sighed as if it was a huge imposition to her. "I suppose we can do without them. That guitarist is just so cute though I just wanna-"_

_"I don't wanna hear about the things you wanna do to him, Caroline!" laughed Elena._

_Caroline giggled and sprung from the couch, suddenly a picture of energy._

_"Get ready, missy." She slapped Elena's behind and skipped out of the room._

Elena brushed back a sweaty strand off her hair out of her face and took a heaving breath. The crush of people suddenly came to her attention and her drunken buzz slipped away to be replaced with an impending feeling of claustrophobia. She grabbed Caroline's arm to draw her attention from where she was dancing with some work friends.  
"I'm gunna go get a water!" she yelled into her friend's ear and Caroline nodded, too drunk to notice Elena's growing distress.

She shoved her way through the crowd with her head down and elbowed her way to the front of the bar queue, earning several reproachful stares.

"Elena who works on the news." purred a voice next to her and she whirled around, her vision taking a second to catch up with her legs.

"Oh...hi." she answered slowly, feeling drunk under the watchful eyes of Damon Salvatore. He was once again looking impeccable. Her vocal chords constricted, and she struggled to even swallow as he smirked at her obvious struggle.

"Drinking again?" he asked, "I'm no saint myself, but I hardly think this is the way to live out your unemployment. It's a slippery slope, trust me." His eyes were filled with mirth and she found herself giggling and lowering her head as a blush spread across her cheeks.

"Actually, I just got a job." she said, a wide grin plastering itself onto her face.

"Oh, really?" She was struck again by the fact that she sounded genuinely interested. He placed a hand on her arm to stop her from answering as he leaned towards the bar. "What are you having?" he asked, glancing down at her and she realized the question was directed at her.

"Oh...erm...just a water, thanks." He laughed loudly, a single barking sound that reverberated through her limbs.  
"Don't take my advice so seriously, Elena." His eyes sparkled mischievously and he raised his eyebrows at ? What'll it be?"

She paused, silent panic beginning to claw at her. She didn't come to cool places like this. She didn't drink trendy drinks, she didn't know how to act cool, coy and aloof whilst ordering a drink; and right now she just wanted a glass of water.

"A beer." she ground out nervously. He smirked knowingly, as if he was in on some private joke she wasn't aware of.

"Two beers, please." He glanced sideways at her, his lips curving upwards. "And a water for the lady." He threw her a wink and she gulped nervously. "So tell me about this job Elena who works on the news." he said playfully.

She took a lengthy sip of water, happy for the cool refreshment.

"It's at Rise and Shine, on channel 5." She looked at him knowingly, waiting for a reaction. The one she got was not what she expected. He snorted loudly and shook his head in disappointment.

"Wow, you must have been desperate to work for that shipwreck." She blinked at him in confusion.

"Don't you work for channel 5?" It was the first time that she had actually implied that she knew fully well who he was.

"Correction, I _worked_for channel 5, past tense. We went our separate ways a long time ago. Good riddance and all that."

"Did they say that or did you?" she asked as a knee jerk reaction and he widened his eyes, betraying his composure before he smirked again.

"Very clever." He shook his finger at her and downed the last of his drink, collecting the new bottle of beer he had ordered straight away. "It was mutual parting of ways, you could say." She nodded and a not altogether awkward silence stretched between them. "So, what God awful post have you filled at Rise and Shine?" he asked after a moment's silence.

"Executive producer." she answered, struggling to contain the smug smirk she could feel beating its way onto her face.

"Well, well, Elena who works on the news, for someone so shy you certainly do seem to be an ambitious little thing." He tipped his bottle in her direction and dipped his head. She blushed and smiled nervously.

"I'm not really all that shy it's just that you're..."

"I'm what?" The amused glint had returned to his eyes and she fought off the urge to just down her beer and run before she made a fool of herself.  
"You're...kind of a big deal. I've watched you for years." she murmured at the exact moment there was a dip in the volume of music so he could hear every word.

He laughed and threw his head back.

"Now you're just making me feel old, Elena."

She blushed and took a heavy swig of her beer, glancing across the packed crowd and noticing the flurry of blonde hair making its way towards her. She groaned into her bottle.

"I'm sorry." she said, offering him an apologetic smile.

He frowned. "What for?"

"Elena! Oh wow...déjà vu." Caroline blinked and shook her head slightly whilst Elena gave Damon a knowing look. He smiled widely and she found herself becoming mesmerized by the expression and the way his brilliant cerulean eyes lit up. "You need to stop ditching me for news guy over here, OK? Oh my God!" she squealed, clutching onto Elena's suddenly with a vice grip.

"What, Caroline?" asked Elena, her eyes widening.

"Now you work on Rise and Shine you have to introduce me to that yummy sports correspondent, what's his name again?"

"Tyler Lockwood," answered Damon, taking a sip from his bottle and raising his eyebrows.

"Thanks, news guy." she grinned, patting his shoulder patronizingly.

"Da-mon," he enunciated slowly.

"Yeah, whatever," Caroline raised a hand and brushed him off. "Can we go dance now please?" She turned to Elena, tugging on her hand and dragging her away from him. She once again dragged her into the centre of the busy dance floor, however, the number of people seemed to have diminished slightly and she found herself feeling more comfortable with a bit more room.

"You know," shouted Caroline, leaning forwards to speak into her ear, "you should be careful around guys like that." Elena rolled her eyes at her friend, cocking her head to the side. "I'm serious, he's got that whole 'I'm gunna corrupt you' look about him."

"Is that even a look?"

"Trust me, honey, it's a look." Elena shook her head in exasperation, she appreciated Caroline's concern but she was a big girl and she could look after herself.

They danced the rest of the night away before calling it a night, Elena had become neurotic about spending all day Sunday preparing herself for her first day Monday.

* * *

Elena stared at the readily pressed white shirt that she had hung from her wardrobe the night before. Caroline had convinced her that it was 'well cut', but all she saw now when she looked at it was the odd pleating down the centre that would surely make people stare at her chest. Which is not what she wanted on her first day.

However, she trusted her best friend's fashion taste better than her own, and so she slipped the flimsy, over-priced piece of material over her head and headed out the door.

* * *

Damon yawned widely and stretched his arms above his head. Years had passed since his days as a serious, consistent news reporter, however, he still woke up at the crack of dawn every day with the aching need to find out the stories that were breaking around the world.

His own current news story involved a girl lying next to him whose name he could not recall, and the stale taste of whiskey in his mouth.

He surveyed the layout of his large, open plan loft space. Maybe he should get a maid, or a housekeeper? A housekeeper definitely sounded less kinky, but the idea of a maid was more thrilling. Maybe he'd hire both and waste some more of his savings that way.

He spied his jeans from the night before slung across a leather armchair on the other side of the room with a lacy thong peaking out of the back pocket.

Raising the sheets and peering surreptitiously beneath them he concluded that it did not belong to the leggy blonde sleeping next to him.  
The investigative reporter in him began to delve into the recesses of his mind where, surely, the memory of the last few nights would be hidden.

However, all he could conjure was that girl's face. Elena who works on the news. Elena who was, surprisingly, in charge of the news. It was an amusing thought certainly; a girl so young and innocent running the production of that horrific show. He considered giving his old pal Alaric Saltzman a call and asking him what he was thinking throwing a girl like that into the lions den. At best he estimated that she'd last for a couple of months, tops.

He would be lying if he said he couldn't see the reasons that Alaric had hired her for. She was strikingly attractive; her eyes contained that doe-eyed look that made her look permanently startled. And she thought he was a big deal, he couldn't stop the swell of pride in his chest at the thought of her words.  
No one had thought he was a big deal for a long time. He was a washed up, practically alcoholic, womanising lay about. Every month he received his contractually obliged pay packet and within days it had been spent on the rent for his outrageous loft and the rest on expensive scotch.

The anonymous girl next to him groaned and stretched, arching her back in a way that made him raise his eyebrows.

"What time is it?" she croaked.

He muted the television; Mason Lockwood was boring people with his own personal take on the financial crisis again. As if that entitled prick had any idea of what a crisis of finances was like.

"About half past 5," he answered. He smirked as she groaned noisily and raised her scathing eyes to look up at him.

"In the morning!"

He suppressed a shudder as her face came into view. A clearly cosmetically altered nose set above plumped lips into a small face. He glanced down at his once white pillows to see the remains of the makeup she had clearly caked on smeared across the cover.

"Yep, just about time for you to go."

"What!" she snapped, all pretences of the cool and sexy girl from the night before forgotten, "you're kicking me out, at 5am?"

''Fraid so. I'm an incredibly busy man, you see." She threw back the sheets aggressively and searched for her dress. Pulling it angrily over her head she snorted.

"Bullshit. You're a washed up waste of space, running around flashing your name and your cash in bars like it means anything to anyone anymore."

He laughed and sat up with his head against the headboard. "Well you've hit the nail on the head there, but what does that say about you, sweetheart?"

"It says I'm a good person for taking a chance on you because I thought you were a nice guy - where the fuck are my shoes!" she screeched.

"Try the kitchen sink. And a nice guy! Please. Those weren't the words you were screaming last night." She retrieved her shoes from the sink, where they had been thrown in haste the night before, pulling the slightly soggy pair onto her feet with disgust.

"You're an asshole." she spat venomously.

"Sure thing, honey. I think they have a club you can join." He smirked to himself as the resounding slam of his front door answered him. Now what to do with the rest of his day?

His eyes re-focussed on the two morning anchors on the screen in front of him. Glancing at the large, modern clock mounted on his wall he smiled. A nice visit to his friend Alaric sounded like a good idea.

* * *

Elena breathed a sigh of relief as she spied the coffee machine from across the room. Her relief was short lived however as Alaric took hold of her elbow and steered her down another long corridor into what looked like a prop room, come cafeteria, come dumping ground.

"So, this is probably where you would find anything you'd ever need for anything. If it's not on this floor, we don't have it. And if we don't have it, don't ask for it, because we can't afford it."

Elena had heard these words many times that morning. There didn't seem to be much they could afford. Along the far wall was an array of breakfast food, dried up looking pastries, and tubs of cereal. A few members of the crew were gathered around it and Alaric led her towards them.

"Everyone," he called, drawing their attention to him, "this is Elena Gilbert, she's going to be the new executive producer."

If she had been expecting pomp and circumstance, she had been gravely overestimating the enthusiasm of the entire team. A couple of people made a grunted greeting but most of them barely looked up from their bowl of bran flakes.

"I'll take you to meet the anchors now; they should be back in their dressing rooms."

"Do they not rehearse after the show finishes?" she asked, scurrying behind him and glancing wistfully at the table of food and coffee. Alaric answered with a short laugh that she had already found out was a universal answer, encompassing, but not limited to: 'hell no', 'absolutely not', 'in your dreams', and 'are you serious?'

He stopped outside a plain white door, that looked to be in desperate need of a lick of paint, and knocked gently with a single knuckle.

"Now the trick is to be in and out in less than three minutes. Any longer than that and she'll have time to get a good look at you and well...you don't want that."

"What? Why not!"

"Just trust me on this one. Three minutes." He swung the door open without a word and shoved her over the threshold. "I'll be back to take you to meet Lockwood, just..." He paused and ran a hand through his dishevelled hair. "Don't go see him without me."

Elena stumbled into the dimly lit room and poked her head around the door. A dark skinned woman was gazing at herself in a dressing table mirror, surrounded by large light bulbs that were mostly broken. She dabbed at her cheeks with her fingers and pulled the skin back, sighing woefully.

"Erm, hi...Miss Bennett?" The woman spun and Elena realised that she probably wasn't as old as she looked from her profile and by her mimicked face lift. She estimated that there was probably a few years between them, however, where Elena had always looked fresh and innocent, Bonnie Bennett possessed a permanent look of disdain that aged her beyond her years.

"Look-" She pressed a weary hand to her temple, shielding her eyes, and lowered her head, shaking it from side to side. "I have told Alaric a hundred times, I don't have time to dish out advice to college work experience people. I don't have any advice for you, kid, other than to maybe use that whole innocent thing you've got going and sleep your way to the top." She turned back to her mirror and began inspecting the skin of her forehead.

"Erm...actually my name's, Elena Gilbert. I'm your new EP, I was just coming to introduce myself." She glanced up to the clock on the wall. Two minutes.

"Ohhh, well this is interesting." The woman spun in her seat again, like some kind of Bond villain. "Christ, they really do get younger and younger. No prizes for guessing why Alaric hired you, I guess Lockwood will be happy..." She appeared to be speaking to herself.

"Excuse me?" asked Elena meekly.

"Do you know how many EP's I've had in the four years that I've worked here?" she asked tiresomely.

"Erm..."

"Twelve. That means you'll be here for three months, at the most. So don't bother telling me your name, sweetheart, because I won't remember it when the next little young thing is prancing in here all full of youthful energy."

Elena took this as her cue to leave and backed out the room, too nervous to turn her back, as if she had just been received by the Queen of England.

She pulled the door closed and leaned her forehead against it. Taking a step backwards she collided with a large figure and almost fell over backwards. Strong hands grasped her by the hips accompanied by a deep chuckle.

"Steady on there." She turned around and came face to face with Mason Lockwood. Short, tightly curling dark hair and a tan that suggested he didn't spend much time in Mystic Falls accompanied his gleaming white grin, his sharp teeth reminding her of a wolf.

"Hi!" she chirped, Alaric's warning at the back of her mind. "My name is Elena Gilbert, I'm your new EP." She stuck her hand out in front of her and he took it, pulling her towards him and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Its great to meet you, Elena. Please," he said beckoning with his large hands, one outstretched and the other placed on her lower back, "come into my office."

She followed him into his dressing room and found the walls to be adorned with crude, nude portraits. Her eyes flitted from one to the other before she settled her gaze on the floor, a blush spreading out across her cheeks. What had Alaric said again? Oh yeah...maybe he'd had a point.

"So, Elena...tell me about yourself."

Mason had settled himself onto a long, brown leather sofa that, after a quick glance at the walls, she realised had been used in most of his portraits.

"I uh...well there's not much to tell really."

"How old are you?" he asked, crossing his legs and leaning back with his hands joined behind his head. "You're over 21, right?" A quiver of nerves hid behind his voice.

"Um...yeah, I'm 25." He smirked dangerously and looked around the room with pride.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" She swallowed the gag that his words provoked and stretched her lips in a way that she hoped looked like a smile. "I do them very tastefully, no touching...not unless you want to."

"Oh, I could never..."

"You'd look great with a sepia filter."

"Erm...no thanks." She found herself once again backing out of the room until she spied Alaric heading over towards her.

"I thought I told you not to go in there without me. Shit, did he ask you to pose for him?"

"Erm...maybe, yeah..." Alaric groaned and shook his head.

"Rule number one: do not spend one on one time with Mason Lockwood. He's a lecherous pig and he always gets what he wants."

Elena shuddered.

"Why is he even here then?" she pressed.

Alaric shrugged and began walking again in his brisk gait that Elena struggled to keep up with. "We can't really afford anyone else right now."  
They headed back up to his office as he recounted the general admin. "Your day starts at 4:15, we go live at 5am and everything after that is pretty much organised chaos so...best of luck."

"4:15? Isn't that a little late?" Alaric threw her a look, raising his tired eyebrows over the purplish hue of his well defined bags. "Its just that, if you want to get in a morning meeting then shouldn't everyone be ready an hour before...latest?"

He shrugged again. Its your show now, Elena. But good luck getting any of these prima donnas here before 4." They reached his office and a peppy looking brunette stepped out from behind a desk.

"Mr Saltzman, there's a man here to see you, he said it was urgent. He's waiting in your office."

Elena glanced across at him, "Do you want me to...?"

"No, its fine," he huffed, "its probably just one of the network execs. They can smell fresh meat." He flashed her a wink and opened the door, ushering her into the room first before closing the door behind them.

Damon rose to his feet, smoothing out his black jeans as he stood. He grinned at Alaric, letting his eyes slide across to Elena momentarily.

"Well look what the wind blew in!" exclaimed Alaric, dragging him into a manly hug. "Nice of you to honor us with your presence."

Damon laughed and pulled away from his friend, clapping him on the back.

"Well, you know, I thought I'd drop by and make sure you're keeping the place in order." He turned to look across at Elena who had her hands shoved into the pockets of her low slung, wide-leg grey flannel pants and was kicking at a piece of floor with her eyes downcast. His eyes flitted briefly down the ruffled detail across her chest before he was distracted by Alaric.

"So, what can I do for you, Damon?"

"Well, word on the rumor mill was that you'd hired a new EP, so I came to see what all the fuss was about." Elena looked up and met his smiling blue eyes. He decided to drop all pretenses of not knowing her, if only just to see Alaric's bewildered face. He could already see that his friend was far too protective of this girl.

"How's it going, Elena?" he asked smoothly.

"Not too badly, thanks." She answered shyly, tucking a stray piece of hair back into her ponytail.

"Do you two know each other?" Alaric glanced between the pair, feeling fatherly concern for Elena immediately.

"We've met a couple of times." she explained. Damon smirked as she focused on a spot somewhere above his head, fixing her eyes on it and avoiding his eyes at all costs. Why was she so embarrassed? Maybe because on her first day of work Damon Salvatore, the notorious womaniser, had appeared in front of her boss appearing to be well acquainted with her.

Nervous that Alaric would get the wrong idea about what kind of person she was she sought for a reason to excuse herself.

"I just have to use the bathroom." she garbled. _Crap! Why did I say that?_She thought, screeching furiously at herself as she turned scarlet and slipped from the room.

"So..." Damon placed his hands into his pockets and grinned mischievously at his friend.

"No." Alaric answered shortly, racing his hand to Damon. "Do not even think about it." Damon's grin widened, "I'm serious, Damon; hands off. I categorically forbid you to go after that girl."

Damon snorted and shook his head wearily, "You realize what you just did right? You just waved the red rag my friend, now I have to do it."

"You are not a teenager, Damon. " snapped Alaric, eyeing his friend warily. He needed to tread carefully here because, contrary to his words, Damon was emotionally about as mature as a teenager, and stupidly telling him not to do something meant that it was as good as done. "She's a nice girl, she has a lot of bright ideas for the show and I think she could genuinely do well here, Christ knows we need it..."

"Ric," Damon stepped forward and placed his hands on Alaric's shoulders, "don't stress it man. I'll be a good boy," He felt his friend relax beneath his hands. "But..." The tension immediately returned. "...as soon as she shows any inclination towards me...she's fair game."

* * *

Elena shook her head in disgust. Fair game! What was she, a _pheasant?_She was not game, or a game to be played. Appalled that she had actually considered for a second that the asshole was anything more than a spoiled man whore she realised that Caroline would get to give her the world's biggest 'I told you so.' He would be far from corrupting her, however, she was certain about that.

She straightened herself from where she had been stood, leaning towards the entrance to Alaric's office, around the corner from his large glass doors. She tightened her ponytail and brushed her hands over the front of her blouse before breezing back into the room.

* * *

Please, please, please review...please?

xxx


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